Popular Essays 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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POPULAR ESSAYS 



THE CARE OF THE 



TEETH and MOUTH 



By VICTOH C. BELL, A. B., D. D. S. 

Director of the Special Prosthetic Department of the New York College of 
Dentistry. Late Dental Surgeon to the German Polyclinic. 



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PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
1894. 






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Copyrighted 1894. 





BAKER, JONES & CO., PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 
BUFFALO, N. Y. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

Chapter I — Introductory, . . . . .7 
Chapter II — Cleanliness, . . . . .13 

Chapter III — Filling the Teeth, . . . .20 

Chapter IV — Extraction op Diseased Teeth, . . 29 

Chapter V — Artificial Teeth, .... 37 

Chapter VI — Advice to Mothers, . . . .44 

Chapter VII — Children's Teeth, .... 56 

Chapter VIII — Crown and Bridge Work, ... 64 

Chapter IX — Fractured Jaws, . . . . .68 

Chapter X — Cleft Palate, ..... 74 

Chapter XI — Hints on Home Remedies, . . .81 

Chapter XII— Quackery, .... 96 



PREFACE. 

This work is the outgrowth of the observations made 
in daily practice. For years the author has noted and 
deplored the lack of information upon dental subjects 
that is displayed by people of otherwise great general 
intelligence. This is the more to be lamented, because 
the subject is a vital one, and the consequences of igno- 
rance must be felt during the whole life. He candidly 
believes that were the information contained in this 
little book generally diffused, and its teachings well 
followed, not only would very much of pain and suf- 
fering be prevented, but the general term of human 
life would be perceptibly lengthened. 

This book has, therefore, been prepared in the hope 
that it may in some way be used to spread a knowledge 
of the importance of the dental organs among the 
people, especially the young, through the medium of 
the schools. It has not been Avritten especially for 



VI PREFACE. 

dentists, and hence simplicity of language has been 
cultivated, and technical terms have been avoided. 
But at the same time the hope is indulged that 
professional men may find it useful for the purposes 
indicated, and it is therefore dedicated to dental prac- 
titioners and their patients. 

The author desires to acknowledge the great obliga- 
tions under which he rests to Dr. William Carr, and 
Professors W. C. Barrett, Frank Abbott and J. B. Littig, 
for valuable suggestions and assistance. 

New York, Jan. 1, 1894. 



CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 



" Doctor, does not the cleaning of the teeth by dental 

instruments ruin them ? " 

" In filling the teeth are not their nerves killed, and 

their vitality thus destroyed ? " 

"Can aching teeth be made serviceable ? " 

" Is not the gas that is administered for extraction 

very dangerous in its action % " 

" Are not false teeth taken from the dead ? " 

"Is not food tasteless to the wearer of artificial 

teeth % " 

Questions such as these are constantly asked the 
practicing dentist. 

"Miss A., why do you not attend to your teeth? " 
" O ! I am so afraid of the dentist and his torturing 
instruments." 



8 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

"Mr. B., why do you not have your teeth put in 
order?" 

" Well, I'm too busy, and just now they do not bother 
me." 

Thus it is that Miss A. and Mr. B. neglect these es- 
sential organs, until decay and disease have so far pro- 
gressed that they are beyond the skill of the dentist, 
and irretrievably lost. 

Hoav often do patients present themselves to the den- 
tist with teeth so filthy that one recoils with disgust 
and aversion at beholding them. Add to this a number 
of ulcerated roots, or decayed teeth with large cavities 
in which decomposing food remains for weeks and 
months, and you will no longer wonder why sometimes 
the breath of an individual is so offensive and foul that 
his presence is unbearable. Wherever there is de- 
composition of organic matter, there innumerable col- 
onies of microbes, the germs of disease, are generated. 
Through a mouth thus infected, can any individual pass 
his food and yet wonder why he suffers from indi- 
gestion ? An eminent writer, speaking upon this sub- 
ject, says : 

" The stomach may be compared to a stove; the food 
to the fuel consumed by the stove, and life to the heat 
given off by the glowing coals. The stomach is an ex- 
cellent stove, and will burn much bad fuel. But have 
a care lest it rebel, and the fire be extinguished." To 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9 

maintain a vigorous and sustained vital glow, the food 
taken into the stomach must be thoroughly ground by 
the teeth, and mixed with the saliva, and it must not 
be mingled with any deleterious accumulations in the 
mouth. 

Good health demands thorough digestion ; thorough 
digestion demands thorough mastication, and thorough 
mastication demands sound and healthy teeth. Ulcer- 
ated roots and decayed teeth, an inflamed mouth and 
vitiated saliva, are poorly fitted to supply the stomach 
with food that can be properly digested and assimilated. 

Abscesses with agonizing pains, necrosed jaws and 
probable disfigurement of the face, with tumors and 
foreign growths of varying character, frequently result 
from a neglected mouth. 

Many other diseases, as of the eye, ear, and the cavi- 
ties of the head, often the most difficult to diagnose, 
may be traced directly to an unhealthy condition of 
the teeth. But a short time ago, I was visited by a 
young lady whose eyes were so badly affected that she 
could only see with great difficulty. Medical treatment 
had failed to relieve her. Having trouble with her 
teeth, she found it necessary to consult the dentist, and 
with the curing of her dental troubles her eyesight was 
restored. 

I have seen the most robust patients shattered in 
health by dental troubles. Who is not familiar with 



10 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

the acute suffering with which the development of an 
abscess, or swelling on the gums or face, is accom- 
panied ? The pain is not only agonizing, but the gen- 
eral health is affected. Surgeons and dentists are daily 
called upon to perform operations for the removal of 
necrosed portions of bones, and tumors of the most 
formidable character, and sometimes even for the 
removal of the entire jaw. There is not a disease to 
which the human body is liable that is not aggravated 
by an unhealthy condition of the teeth. 

It is marvelous to observe how men will spend money 
in the most extravagant manner for outward show, or 
will wear away the best part of their lives in the ac- 
cumulation of wealth, and yet never give a thought or 
a penny to the preservation of health. But there will 
come a day when disease shall have so wasted their 
system as to place its recovery beyond all medical skill, 
and then they will realize the full consequences of their 
neglect. 

It is in the comprehension of these facts that I have 
written this book. In it I shall discuss the following 
topics : 

1. Cleanliness. 

2. Filling the teeth. 

3. Extraction of diseased teeth. 

4. Artificial teeth. 



INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 11 

5. Advice to mothers. 

6. Children's teeth. 

7. Crown and bridge work. 

8. Fractured jaws. 

9. Cleft palate. 

10. Hints on home remedies. 

1 1 . Quackery. 

I have adopted this system of division because I 
think it not only the most logical, but that which is 
best calculated to give the reader a knowledge of the 
dangers incurred by neglect of the teeth, and of the 
best remedial measures to be employed when suffering 
from such a course. 

Before concluding this chapter, I may say that the 
lack of knowledge displayed by the popular mind on 
these subjects, has aroused in me the desire to place 
before my readers, in a concise form, such information 
as will be of service to them in all dental emergencies, 
and which, if carefully followed, will add to their health 
and strength, and to their consequent happiness. 

In preparing these pages, I have had primarily before 
me the fact that just such a book is needed, to throw 
some light upon a common subject that is not suffi- 
ciently considered in the ordinary courses of school 
instruction. 

I have endeavored to avoid the use of technical terms, 



L2 



CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



and to study simplicity in the language employed, as it 
is my sole intention to interest the popular mind with 
matters which are familiar to the medical and dental 
professions. 




CHAPTER II. 

CLEANLINESS. 

The importance of keeping the mouth free from rem- 
nants of food and masses of tartar cannot be too strongly 
impressed upon the reader. It is no exaggeration to 
say that ninety-five per cent, of all dental troubles are the 
direct outcome of uncleanliness. When particles of food 
are allowed to accumulate upon and between the teeth, 
fermentation, which will be subsequently explained, takes 
place, and decay is the result. Or putrefaction may en- 
sue, and the mouth become a very center of disease and 
infection. If the mouth could be kept perfectly clean 
and pure, teeth would never decay, but as this is impos- 
sible, it only remains for us to clean the teeth thoroughly 
after each meal, that the particles of food may be as 
perfectly removed as is practicable. 

Tartar. — This is a deposit of animal and mineral 
matter, precipitated from the fluids of the mouth upon 
the teeth. Sometimes it accumulates in such large 
quantities as completely to incrust them. It imparts to 
the teeth a greenish, yellowish, darkish, and sometimes 
a white color. Its effects upon the teeth are : 



14: CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

1. It makes the gums spongy and sloughy, and 
causes them to bleed at the slightest irritation. 

2. It produces suppuration of the gums, and pus 
accumulates, sometimes in considerable quantities, mak- 
ing the mouth exceedingly unwholesome. 

3. It forces the gums from the teeth, and working 
its way between them produces such an absorption of 
the bony sockets as to cause the latter either to fall out 
of their own account, or to be taken out at the least 
exhibition of any force. 

4. It vitiates the saliva, and as this fluid is essential 
to digestion, the digestive apparatus is deranged and 
the entire system is disturbed. 

5. It imparts a disagreeable odor to the breath. 
This is one of the most disgusting features of a filthy 
mouth, and makes the sufferer obnoxious to all. 

If, then, one would preserve his teeth and avoid these 
diseases, he should keep them free from deca}ang food 
and tartar, by the most unremitting attention. This 
cannot be done by merely polishing the exposed surfaces. 

When once allowed to become encrusted with tartar, 
no one can thoroughly clean his own teeth, because he 
can neither see where the masses are, nor can he use the 
proper instruments for their removal. The work can 
only be well done by the dentist. Everyone, then, 
should visit his dentist at least twice each year, for 
cleaning and examination of his teeth. 



CLEANLINESS. 15 

We often hear the question asked, if cleaning the 
teeth with instruments does not injure the enamel, or if 
they are not so irritated as to cause disease, and per- 
haps instances are cited in which the teeth of a friend 
have, in their imagination, been led to decay because of 
the work done upon them by some dentist in cleaning. 

It is undoubtedly true, that when teeth are cleaned 
cavities of decay that were masked by tartar are un- 
covered, but in such instances the cause existed before 
professional aid was sought. 

Neither the medicines nor the instruments employed 
by a good dentist will, in any case, injure the teeth. In 
the first place, no respectable practitioner would employ 
any remedies that could be harmful. In the next place, 
the instruments are of the finest make, while the enamel 
is too hard to be abraded by them. The pain com- 
plained of is caused by the removal of the tartar that 
has been allowed to accumulate beneath the gums, 
and which had forced them from the necks of 
the teeth, leaving that portion bare and exposed. A 
few days will accustom them to the changed condition, 
when the irritation will subside. 

The decay of which the patient complains was not 
caused, but revealed, by the cleaning. Sooner or later 
it would have manifested itself, as the coatings of 
filth and tartar had been silently doing their work of 
destruction, and the cleaning, far from inducing the 



16 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

decay, simply exposed its existence, and warned the 
patient to check its further progress. 

After the teeth have been thoroughly cleaned by the 
dentist, to preserve them in this condition the patient 
should wash them with lukewarm water, and polish 
frequently with a powder or mouth-wash, using a soft 
brush. 

Lukewarm water should be used, because it cleanses 
much more effectively than either that which is very 
cold or very warm, and because, even if the cold and 
warm water could clean as perfectly, they should still 
be avoided, as they act injuriously upon the teeth. 

Every layman has no doubt observed for himself the 
physical law that heat expands, while cold contracts 
bodies. No one would think of removing a glass 
tumbler from a basin of very cold to very hot water, 
or vice versa, because he knows that the rapid expansion 
or contraction which would follow might break the 
glass. It is in a similar manner that the enamel of the 
teeth may be cracked, when very cold or very warm 
substances succeed each other in the mouth. 

In choosing a brush, select a soft rather than a harsh 
one, as the latter irritates and abrades the gums. Brush 
from the gums toward the summits of the teeth, or 
longitudinally, and not transversely. By brushing across 
them, particles of food are forced between the teeth, 
where they may become centers of decay. After using 



CLEANLINESS. 



17 



the brush, wash it carefully, that all de- 
composable matter which may have been 
caught by the bristles may be removed. 

In the absence of a brush, a silk thread 
is an excellent substitute. By forcing it 
between the teeth, all matter which may 
have lodged there is removed. Indeed, 
floss silk, prepared for this purpose, is an 
excellent thing with which to supplement 
the tooth brush. 

Powders and mouth- washes, when free 
from acid, should be employed in clean- 
ing the teeth. Great care and judgment 
should, however, be exercised in their se- 
lection, and only those recommended by 
some reputable dentist should be used. 

The fact that a certain powder or mouth- 
wash is extensively advertised, does not 
add to its value. As a rule, avoid such 
preparations, for they may contain acids* 
which, while they clean rapidly, are very 
destructive. 

The teeth are chiefly composed of mineral salts. 
Acids have a great affinity for these, and when brought 
in contact with the teeth corrode or dissolve them, and 
in this way make their surfaces rough, and bring about 
their destruction. 




A toothbrush of 
proper form. 



18 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

The following powder, containing nothing deleteri- 
ous, will excellently answer the purpose for which it 
is intended : 

Bicarbonate of Soda, - - half ounce. 

Precipitated Chalk, - - - two ounces. 
Pulverized Orris Eoot, - - one ounce. 
Pulverized Castile Soap, - - one ounce. 

Flavor with Peppermint or Wintergreen. 

It is sufficient to employ a powder every other day. 
Its too frequent use may abrade the teeth, and wear 
them away. In the intervals, the brush and water will 
suffice. 

After the teeth have been carefully brushed, the 
mouth should be daily rinsed with a mouth-wash. 

Lime water is excellent for this purpose, and should 
be freely used. Its peculiar virtue consists in the fact 
that it is an alkali — that is, it neutralizes the effects 
of acids. Food ma}^ contain acids, or the saliva may be 
acid, a condition that frequently exists when the 
patient is in a debilitated condition. 

Those who object to lime water because of its un- 
pleasant taste, may remove this objectionable feature 
by using with it a few drops of oil of rose, or cologne. 

The following mouth-wash is a most excellent one, 
as it is antiseptic, sweet to the taste, and is also alkaline 
in its reaction : 



CLEANLINESS. 19 

Bicarbonate of Soda - - half ounce. 

Simple Elixir - two ounces. 

Distilled Water - - - ten ounces. 

Tinct. Cochineal - - - q. s. 

Kinse the mouth with this solution twice daily, in the 
morning after cleaning the teeth, and in the evening 
before retiring. 

If the directions here given are carefully followed, 
the result will be a clean and sweet mouth, a pure 
breath, hard, firm gums and sound teeth. 




CHAPTER III. 



FILLING THE TEETH. 



Judging from the questions constantly asked the 
dentist, it is no exaggeration to say that very few peo- 
ple have a clear conception of the causes which lead to 
decay of the teeth. 

Experiments and observation have shown that these 
are numerous. Chief among them is the fermentation 
of particles of food lodged between the teeth, or in 
their pits or depressions, during mastication. When, 
through carelessness or indifference, these deposits are 
not removed, under the influence of the warmth, mois- 
ture and the microbes present, fermentation, or chem- 
ical change takes place and an acid is generated, and 
this dissolves the enamel and dentine, leaving a cavity, 
which constantly grows larger and deeper. 

The dentine is of a tubular structure, and into these 
tubules the microbes which constantly exist in the 
mouth penetrate, where they continue their destructive 
effect until the tooth is completely destro} T ed. 

Microbes are minute vegetable organisms, some of 
the many species of which are so small that they are 



FILLING THE TEETH. 21 

only visible under the highest powers of the microscope. 
They are the cause of a large class of infectious or 
contagious diseases, and between them and the body 
there is a constant struggle. 

The process of fermentation is of itself but the 
growth and multiplication of these minute organisms, 
and in this process of their life-history they produce the 



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Microbes, micro-organisms or bacteria, greatly enlarged. 

acids and other poisonous material which make them 
so fatal to mankind. Their number is inconceivable. 

These are the direct causes of decay of the teeth. 
But there also exist indirect, or contributing causes, and 
these may be anything which will lower the general 
tone of the system, and make it less able to resist the 
action of deleterious agents. 

Among these secondary causes producing decay, may 
be mentioned any protracted sickness, the lack of out- 
door exercise, excessive study, anxiety or worry, which 



W2i CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

undermine and weaken the system. When the body is 
ill, no one organ can be said to be perfectly sound. 

The teeth may be crowded or depressed, or there 
may be fissures which offer a ready means for lodge- 
ment of food. The walls of the teeth may not be 
dense, and their power of resisting decay may be very 
weak, or the food may not contain the necessary ele- 



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Other forms of Microbes, greatly enlarged. 

ments for nourishing the teeth, and hence the work of 
repairing the wear and tear of daily use may be but 
poorly accomplished. 

Again, there may be a hereditary tendency to decay. 
That our ancestors suffered from any special ailment 
does not necessarily demonstrate that it will be repro- 
duced in us, but it is probable that the same debilitating 
conditions will be inherited. Their consequences can, 
however, be avoided by proper and unremitting care. 
These causes are constantly at work, producing decay 
of the teeth and forming minute cavities, through 



FILLING THE TEETH 23 

which the decay rapidly progresses until the living- 
matter of the tooth is reached. Unless this is checked, 
the tooth will be totally wrecked ; even if it be not 
wholly destroyed, it will be so badly decayed that it 
will threaten the welfare of the entire dentition, and 
therefore it may become necessary to extract it. 

Many, fearing that the filling of a tooth will be pain- 
ful, refuse to have this done. But when the proper 
manipulation is employed, the operation is accompanied 
by very little of acute pain, and if the decay is of re- 
cent formation, by none at all. Every consideration, 
then, whether the ultimate welfare of the tooth is con- 
cerned or the desire be to avoid suffering and discom- 
fort, prompts the patient to early attention to his teeth, 
before decay shall have proceeded so far as to cause 
toothache. 

The teeth are composed of four principal parts, — 
Enamel, Dentine, Cementum and Pulp. 

Enamel. — This constitutes the cap, outer covering, or 
occluding surface of the tooth. It is the hardest tissue 
in the animal body. Its great density admirably adapts 
it to the purposes of mastication of hard substances. 
The enamel is easily distinguishable from the dentine 
with the naked eye, by its clear, lustrous, and somewhat 
translucent appearance. 

Dentine. — The dentine forms the principal constitu- 
ent of the tooth. It is situated under the enamel, and 



24 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

is permeated by a great number of minute canals, 
which connect with the pulp chamber. It is a hard, 
elastic substance, with a yellowish tinge, and is slightly 
translucent. 

Cementum. — This forms a thin covering for the sur- 
face of the fang, or root of the tooth, and extends from 
its neck to the apex. 

Pulp. — The pulp is' a soft tissue, occupying the pulp 
chamber, which is an elongated "canal, wide at the 
crown, and narrow at the root. It runs longitudinally 
through the center of the dentine. The pulp contains 
the nerves and blood vessels of the tooth. It is the 
vital part, and sends forth minute fibers of living mat- 
ter through the microscopic canals of the dentine, to 
nourish and endow the tooth with sensation. 

As soon as the enamel is decayed through, the sensi- 
tive dentine rapidly disappears under the action of the 
acids produced by fermentation, and the pulp soon be- 
comes exposed. 

Frequently the decay of the sixteenth part of an inch 
is sufficient to lay bare the pulp. This is extremely 
sensitive, and the contact of any foreign matter causes 
the most exquisite suffering. The least change of tem- 
perature, or the exertion of any undue pressure upon 
it, will so irritate its nerve filaments as to produce se- 
vere toothache, and affect the entire nervous system of 
the head. 



FILLING THE TEETH. 25 

Before the pulp lias become exposed, the operation of 
filling the teeth is comparatively painless. The filling 
lasts, and the tooth remains strong, because the vital 
portions of the pulp have not been affected. 

It is easy to discover when the dentine alone is ex- 
posed. This may be sensitive to the touch, to cold and 
to heat, but the pain is dull, and passes away when the 
irritating agent is removed. When, however, the pulp 
is exposed, the pain is acute, constant, severe and ago- 
nizing. Thus the degree and character of the pain will 
indicate the amount of the decay. Should the tooth 
be neglected when the pulp has become exposed, the 
latter becomes inflamed, and the work of filling the 
teeth is very painful, and perhaps impossible, and if the 
neglect be persisted in, the pulp dies. 

Thus at the outset the dentist is confronted with 
three classes of diseased teeth — those in which the 
dentine alone is affected, those in which the pulp has 
been but recently exposed, and those in which, because 
of prolonged exposure, the pulp is either dead or dying. 
Of the first class I have already spoken. In a tooth of 
the second class, the pulp can be cured by the applica- 
tion of soothing medicines, which may remove the irri- 
tation and subdue the inflammation, and enable it to 
bear a filling.. If, after being thus treated, the tooth 
be filled, a covering of secondary dentine may be 
formed by nature underneath the filling, for the better 



26 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

protection of the pulp, and soon the tooth may become 
as sound as ever. 

Concerning the third class of decayed teeth, there 
are three kinds. Those in which the pulp has recently 
died, those in which there is more or less of infection 
and inflammation, and those with a fistulous opening, 
with a more or less constant discharge of pus. The 
first can be cured with comparative ease. The second 
may be relieved if judicious means are employed, while 
the third may require a considerable time, and the exer- 
cise of much patience and skill on the part of the den- 
tist. The pulp chamber and canals must be thoroughly 
cleaned and disinfected, and this work is sometimes 
performed with great difficulty, as the canals are often 
crooked and difficult of access. 

Should the dentist fill such a tooth, leaving within 
it particles of infected matter in the pulp canal, they 
may putrefy and generate gases, which, having no es- 
cape except through the opening at the apex of the 
tooth, press against the surrounding tissues, and produce 
abscesses and swellings, with their accompanying pains. 
After the whole territory has been thoroughly disinfect- 
ed, the canals must be effectually filled. It is sometimes 
advisable to insert a temporary filling to last for sev- 
eral weeks, and only after this experimental stopping- 
has been sufficiently tried, and no unfavorable symptoms 
have supervened, should a permanent filling be substi- 



FILLING THE TEETH. 27 

tuted for the temporary one. If, however, the tooth 
becomes sore, it is an indication that inflammation is 
again active, and that unless it be reduced an abscess 
may follow. The filling must then be removed, and 
the tedious work of disinfection resumed. 

It is apparent, then, that to postpone the work of 
filling a decayed tooth only increases the danger and 

> ///// *\ * 



Different forms of microbes, very much enlarged. 

suffering, while the result, when accomplished, is much 
less satisfactory. 

There are some dentists who promptly apply an ar- 
senical paste to sensitive cavities, whether the pulp be 
exposed or not, and patients have been led to approve 
this, thinking thereby to avoid pain during the filling. 
But it is very bad practice, and the more reputable 
portion of American dentists condemn it earnestly, and 
for some of the following reasons : 



28 CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

First, because when devitalized, there is always the 
liability to putrefaction and the formation of an abscess. 

Second, because it is much easier to fill a live tooth 
than a dead one. 

Third, because a dead tooth is liable to many diseases, 
and is not as permanent or as useful as a live one. 

To destroy the pulp quickly, arsenic is employed. 
Unless this be carefully and skillfully used, there may 
be intense pain. The cavity must be carefully and deli- 
cately cleaned of all foreign material, the irritability of 
the pulp must be allayed, and then the proper devitaliz- 
ing agent must be so inserted that no pressure will be 
exerted. When this is skillfully done no pain will ensue. 
But it is much better if the pulp can be saved alive, and 
the honest dentist will therefore put forth every exer- 
tion to do this. 

A few words as to the materials to be used in filling 
the teeth. Gold and tin possess all the requisite quali- 
ties for beautiful and lasting fillings. Silver is only 
used in the form of an amalgam, with mercury. Gutta 
percha and cement form excellent temporary fillings 
for teeth so decayed that they cannot stand the strain 
incident to the filling with gold or tin foils. The choice 
of materials should, however, be left to the dentist, as 
he best knows the peculiar conditions, and what they 
demand. 



CIIAPTEE IV. 

EXTRACTION OF DISEASED TEETH. 

Extraction is an ultimate remedy, and should be 
resorted to in extreme cases only. If people would 
give to their teeth the attention that is their due, 
there would be no occasion for the forceps, except in 
very rare and exceptional instances. It is because of 
ignorance, or inexcusable carelessness, or the uncon- 
querable dread of dental operations, that the necessity 
for the removal of teeth arises. Timely care might 
preserve even those which are naturally weak and bad. 

But, through neglect, cases arise which imperatively 
demand extraction. Let us consider some of the conse- 
quences of a refusal to have this done. 

The most common of these are abscesses. 

Abscesses, or gumboils, are collections of pus, or 
putrid matter, clue to infection and inflammation of the 
tissues surrounding the roots of diseased teeth. These 
may produce many dangerous results, among which are 
those that follow : 

Locked Jaw.— Sometimes a severe abscess is caused 
by diseased molars or wisdom teeth of the lower jaw. 



30 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

The nerves become so irritated that they are finally 
paralyzed, and the muscles remain in a contracted con- 
dition. They cannot perform their office, and the 
sufferer is unable to open or close his mouth. When 
this happens, the patient is said to suffer from locked 
jaw. It should be understood that by this term is not 
meant tetanus, or spasmodic contractions. 

Neuralgia. — Intense neuralgia of the eye, the ear, 
or the entire side of the face, is frequently produced by 
the pressure of an abscess and the irritation due to a 
diseased tooth. All the nerves which supply the e} T e, 
the ear, the face and the teeth, are intimately connected 
through their terminal filaments, and any special irrita- 
tion of one may be communicated to and affect any of 
the others. 

The oculist and aurist recognize that the eye and 
ear may be affected by diseased teeth, and so, very 
often, before proceeding with their work, insist that 
the patient have his teeth put in good condition. 

Necrosis. — Death of the bone frequently results 
from an abscess. When pus is allowed to accumulate 
in large quantities, it may burrow between the bone 
and the periosteum, or membrane which envelops the 
bone, and which gives to it nutrition and vitality. This 
membrane being severed from the bone, the latter dies 
from lack of nutrition, and from the violent inflamma- 
tion caused by the abscess. 



EXTRACTION OF DISEASED TEETH. 31 

Eye, Ear and Nose. — These organs are very often 
affected by diseased teeth. Over the molars, in each 
side of the upper jaw bone, there exists a cavity, the 
roof of which is formed by the floor of the orbit, its 
inner boundary being the wall of the nose, and through 
which there is an opening into the nostril. The floor 
of this cavit}?" is formed by that portion of the jaw bone 
which holds the roots of the molars, and into which 
one of them occasionally penetrates. The walls of the 
cavity are thiu, and are lined by a very sensitive mem- 
brane. Any serious disease of these penetrating mo- 
lars, such as inflammation and suppuration, may extend 
into this cavity. Pus may accumulate in such large 
quantities that it will ooze out through the opening that 
communicates with the nose. 

Thus may be seen why, when one suffers from a con- 
stant discharge from the nose, it may be due to a neg- 
lected tooth. Again, if the accumulation of pus is very 
large, it may press against the floor of the eye-ball, and 
either displace the eye or cause partial or complete 
blindness, or it may break through the bone and dis- 
charge upon the face, leaving an ugly scar. At the 
very least, the continued discharge, even though it may 
not find its way to the surface, makes the patient a con- 
stant source of offense, both to himself and those who 
surround him. 

Cases are reported in which tumors caused by dis- 



32 



CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 




Undeveloped Teeth. 



eased teeth have developed to such enormous size that 
they plugged up the nose, dislodged the eye, and even 
broke down the wall of the cavity and penetrated into 
the brain. 

Again, whenever a decayed tooth is in close proxim- 
ity to a sound one, the latter will ultimately be affect- 
eel, for wherever there is 
decay, there we find acids 
and microbes, which in 
their action are very de- 
structive to the teeth. 

Every day that these 
teeth are permitted to 
remain in the mouth but 
aggravates the condition, and renders their inevit- 
able fate, extraction, more and more difficult. This 
is particularly the case with regard to the molars, 
which, as a rule, have several roots, all connected 
by the crown. "When decay has destroyed the 
crown, the roots become separated, and must be ex- 
tracted singly. Sometimes the patient attributes 
this difficulty to lack of skill on the part of the 
dentist, and perhaps even institutes legal proceedings 
for malpractice against men of acknowledged skill. 
These suits, though almost invariably unsuccess- 
ful, have in many cases blighted the reputation 
of the practitioner, for suspicion easily attaches to 



EXTRACTION OF DISEASED TEETH. 3'S 

professional men, and clings to them with fatal 
tenacity. 

We may thus see the importance of an early extrac- 
tion of such badly decayed teeth. But many people 
shrink from the operation, either by reason of their 
ignorance, or because of the misrepresentations of their 
friends, or through a fear of the pain. Let me illustrate 
a case of very frequent occurrence. 

"A" is suffering from an abscess developed from irri- 
tation produced by a dead tooth. He is about to visit 
the dentist to have the tooth extracted, when some 
officious, though well-meaning friend, informs him that 
it is dangerous to extract the tooth before the abscess 
has broken, and "A" will suffer many days and nights 
of intense agony, waiting for the abscess to heal, and 
after this has taken place and he no longer suffers tor- 
ture, he undergoes the additional pain of having the 
tooth extracted. As a matter of fact, there is no dan- 
ger in extracting a tooth about which an abscess is de- 
veloping. There was a time when it was thought 
hazardous to do so, it is true, but this theory has long 
since been exploded. Moreover, the pain of extracting 
such a tooth is entirely lost in the far greater pain suf- 
fered from the abscess, for when one suffers from pains 
of varying intensity, the sensation of the lesser pain is, 
to a greater or less extent, lost in that of the greater. 

There are many who fear to have a tooth removed 



34 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

because of the accompanying suffering. In realhy, 
there is little pain in the extraction of a tooth. The 
sleeplessness, anxiety, and lack of proper food which 
precede the extraction, weaken the body, arfd hence the 
nerves are very susceptible to irritation. The pain of 
extraction principally results from these causes, and not 
from the extraction itself. Fortunately for the sufferer, 
however, by the use of nitrous oxide gas, the extraction 
of teeth may be made absolutely painless. 

This gas is obtained by heating a substance techni- 
cally called ammonium-nitrate in a retort. This salt is 
composed of hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. The 
last two gases are the chief constituents of the air we 
breathe, and in differing proportions compose nitrous 
oxide gas. 

Though odorless and colorless, the gas is sweet to the 
taste ; through its action upon the nerves there is an 
entire loss of consciousness, and with that of course all 
sensation and volition. This lasts but a few moments. 
There is naturally considerable shrinking from it on 
the part of those who are unacquainted with its char- 
acter. But statistics, carefully collected, show that it is 
by far the safest of the anaesthetics, and when properly 
administered that there is less risk from it than from 
the operation itself. It is given daily by many who 
possess no special medical knowledge, and who take no 
precautions as to examination before administering it. 



EXTRACTION OF DISEASED TEETH. 35 

Yet rarely has any harm resulted, even though patients 
were suffering from diseases which are of themselves 
dangerous. 

I may add that in many cases nitrous oxide has 
proven a remedial agent, and where other remedies have 
failed it has afforded relief. It may even be adminis- 
tered to women in the later stages of pregnancy. The 
shock experienced by the nervous system from extract- 
ing a tooth without the gas, is far more dangerous and 
more likely to produce evil results than would the same 
operation be with it. While it is true that during this 
period women should not have their teeth extracted 
unless it becomes absolutely necessary, it is equally true 
that expectant mothers should not be permitted to suf- 
fer from protracted pain. The effect of that upon both 
the mother and babe may prove a lasting injury to 
each, during all the years of their subsequent life. 

Let the patient take the gas on an empty stomach, 
and be perfectly calm ; then its inhalation will be safe, 
and it will relieve the dreaded extraction of ail its 
horrors. 

In conclusion, let me add that if people have badly 
decayed teeth or roots that do not ache, they should at 
once be put in a sanitary condition. If this cannot be 
done, they should be extracted, for if allowed to remain 
they may bring in their train any one of a long list of 
diseases. 



36 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

With the badly decayed teeth removed, and the re- 
maining ones cleaned, filled, capped or crowned, as the 
case may demand, the mouth will be in a thoroughly 
healthy condition, and if any reasonable degree of care 
be bestowed upon it, will probably remain so for many 
years. 




CHAPTEK V. 



ARTIFICIAL TEETH. 



Teeth are subservient to three great functions — 
beauty, speech, and digestion. 

Beauty. — From the remotest ages, the poet and the 
novelist have found in the teeth a fruitful theme for 
song. How they revel in painting their charms ! no 
face, however rich in beauty, color, or regularity of its 
features, is a finished conception with an incomplete 
denture. Nay, if the denture be imperfect in the front 
of the mouth, the charms of the face but heighten the 
inharmony into repellent incongruity. 

We are all ambitious to please, by conforming to the 
laws of the beautiful. In society, one who understands 
the laws of harmony delights the eye by her tasty 
attire. Another, though more richly dressed, having 
failed to harmonize her costume, attracts attention only 
by the impression of absurdity. 

In the purchase of any article of clothing, we all 
recognize that something besides the mere fit or adapta- 
tion must be observed. However excellent the material 



38 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

or the workmanship, a certain law of harmony must be 
observed, or the wearer will appear ludicrous. 

I make but a mild statement, then, when I say that 
it is extremely unpleasant to behold a pair of ripe, 
cherry lips, open but to disclose an incomplete denture. 
The contrast with what was expected becomes very 
jarring. 

Speech. — Teeth are necessary, not only to beauty, 
but to speech. When any of them are missing, the 
power of speech is more or less impaired, because they 
are necessary to the proper formation of articulate 
sounds, and unless all of the teeth are present in the mouth, 
the result is an incomplete and discordant utterance. 
There is a certain relation between the physical form 
and the voice, from which we infer in advance the char- 
acter of the tones which may be expected from any 
individual, and if instead of the expected bass a falsetto 
greets us, the result is very unpleasant. Speakers and 
singers recognize this fact so well, that the instant the 
denture becomes incomplete they have it repaired. 

Digestion. — The most important function of the 
teeth is to assist in digestion, by masticating and insali- 
vating the food. Mastication is the process of reducing 
the food to a pasty condition, by grinding it into small 
particles and mixing it with saliva. 

If before passing the food into the stomach this work 
of mastication is thoroughly performed, the food is 



ARTIFICIAL TEETH. 39 

rendered easily susceptible to the action of the fluid 
secreted by the stomach — the gastric juice. This reduces 
the food to a liquid state, and so prepares it for absorp- 
tion into the system. "When, however, the food is 
swallowed without being thoroughly masticated — that 




Artificial lower Denture. 



is, in mass, or in a dry condition— the action of the 
gastric juice is very slow, and to a considerable extent 
ineffective. It moreover fails to yield all the nourish- 
ing essence of which it is possessed, and causes in addi- 
tion those intense agonies of indigestion, which a cele- 
brated writer once so forcibly described as " a hundred 
rats gnawing in the stomach." 

Good health requires good digestion, and good diges- 
tion requires good mastication ; but so long as any of 
the teeth are missing this is impossible, for nature, 
economical in all things, teaches that unless all the 



40 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

teeth were necessary, some of them would not be found 
in the mouth. 

As the functions of the teeth are of such paramount 
importance, it is necessary that they be kept in constant 
repair, and if any of them are missing they should be 
immediately replaced. The modern dentist has reduced 
this art to a science, and artistically constructs artificial 
dentures, crowns and bridges. 

Artificial Teeth or Dentures. — There are two parts 
in a set of artificial teeth. The plate and the teeth. 

The Plate. — This is a thin sheet of rubber or metal, 
corresponding in shape to the hard palate or roof of the 
mouth. The rubber base is in 
most common use, as it is 
cheap and serviceable. Eub- 
ber is the coagulated milky juice 
of certain trees, that grow in 
South America and other 

An Artificial upper Denture. . , „, .. 

warm countries. After under- 
going many chemical changes, this is manufactured 
into rubber of various grades. Only the best is used 
by the reputable dentist, after it has been subjected 
to many delicate manipulations and processes. 

Among some of the metals used in the manufacture 
of dental bases are gold, silver, platinum and aluminum. 
These are the precious metals, and only such are fit for 
use in dentistry. 




ARTIFICIAL TEETH. 41 

Teeth. — The teeth are attached to the plate so as to 
correspond exactly to the natural denture, in size, 
shape and order of arrangement. They are manufac- 
tured from porcelain, which is a compound of silex, 
feldspar and kaolin. 

Silex is a white mineral, found in sands, rocks, 
crystals and flint. 

Feldspar is generally found as an ingredient of granite 
and other volcanic rocks. 

Kaolin is a fine clay, found in many parts of the 
world. 

From these minerals, together with the use of color- 
ing matter, artificial teeth are manufactured. 

From various fancies or prejudices, none of which 
have any foundation in fact, many people object to the 
use of any artificial appliance in the mouth. Some, 
because they are ashamed to wear artificial teeth, or 
because they are under the impression that they taint 
the breath, and destroy the sense of taste. Others, 
because they believe that artificial teeth are taken from 
the dead, or that an artificial denture cannot be held 
securely in the mouth. 

No false sentiment should be allowed to interfere 
with the laws of health or proper hygiene. Beauty, 
speech and mastication are primary considerations, 
and no mere affectation has the right to negative their 
demands. 



42 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

Artificial teeth neither destroy the sense of taste nor 
contaminate the breath. The sense of taste is located 
in the tongue, and there is not a single ingredient 
entering into the composition of the rubber or teeth 
which can infect the breath. Nor are artificial teeth 
ever taken from the dead. Their very name shows 
that they are the product of man's handiwork; they are 
manufactured from the pure materials that I have 
already enumerated. 

To those who fear that a denture cannot be held 
firmly in the mouth, let me say that their apprehen- 
sions are groundless. To secure the plate in the mouth 
it is necessary to utilize two forces of nature — adhesion 
and atmospheric pressure. 

Adhesion. — Adhesion is that force by virtue of which 
the molecules of different bodies cling together. A 
remarkable instance of this is found when we press 
together two smooth or occluding surfaces. Adhesion 
is so strong that they will cling together with great 
tenacity. If we press together two perfectly level sur- 
faces of glass, it will be found very difficult to separate 
them. 

Atmospheric Pressure. — The air presses in every 
direction with a force of about 15 lbs. to the square 
inch. A little computation demonstrates that the 
human body, for instance, is subjected to a constant 
pressure of from 20,000 to 30,000 pounds. This would 



ARTIFICIAL TEETH. 43 

be sufficient to crush us to the earth, were it not that 
the air presses equally in all directions. Hence the 
downward pressure is counter-balanced by an equal up- 
ward pressure. This may be proven by an actual 
experiment. 

Take a glass jar, the mouth of which is accurately 
fitted to a smooth metal surface, and by means of an 
air pump exhaust the air within it. Now try to lift the 
jar, and it will be found that it adheres with great 
tenacity. There is no air within to counteract the down- 
ward pressure of that without. But if the air be al- 
lowed to re-enter the jar, it can be raised as easily as ever. 

Children playing with the familiar leather soakers, 
unconsciously take advantage of adhesion and atmos- 
pheric pressure. "When the soaker is pressed down upon 
the stone, the air is forced out, and they are enabled 
to lift the stone, whirl it in the air, or carry it about. 

Artificial plates are constructed upon a model taken 
from an impression of the mouth, and it is thus 
made accurately to fit the hard palate and gums. 
There are two perfectly occluding surfaces, the palate 
and the plate. When these are brought into contact 
the air is driven from between them, and adhesion and 
atmospheric pressure are called into play. Hence the 
plate is held in the mouth by the action of natural 
forces, and the patient need not worry himself by con- 
juring up imaginary difficulties. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 



Were one to say to the mother, as she lovingly 
fondles her young, " ninety per cent of the diseases 
from which your child will suffer in after life are directly 
traceable to your treatment of it," would she not deny 
the assertion with unbounded indignation % And yet, 
the charge is true, for it must be apparent even to a 
superficial observer, that women, as a rule, possess such 
an imperfect knowledge of the laws of hygiene as to 
be but poorly equipped for a thorough training of their 
young. 

There was a time when diseases were regarded as the 
manifestations of the wrath of an offended Deity, who 
could only be appeased by offering up sacrifices on the 
altars of the Gods, and as men thought it hopeless to 
struggle against the Deity, they paid little, if any, at- 
tention to the laws of hygiene. Those times, however, 
have passed. Our higher culture has swept away these 
idle superstitions, and has revealed to us the universal 
reign of inexorable laws. This should teach us that 
health is the reward of obedience to these laws ; disease, 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 45 

the penalty of their infraction. They are easily ascer- 
tainable, and readily followed. Indeed, such progress 
has been made in their systemization and comprehen- 
sion, that we can almost choose between health and 
disease, but to secure the full measure of advantage 
which must result from an adherence to these laws, 
their study should not be postponed to mature life. It 
must begin in early infancy, and be made to form part 
of the home and school training, for knowledge and 
impressions received in childhood are the most lasting, 
and are readily developed into fixed habits. 

The training of the child during this early period of 
its life is peculiarly the work of the mother, and not all 
the study and thought of after life can thoroughly erad- 
icate the ideas and habits which she can impress upon 
its young mind. To perforin the work of education 
efficiently, the mother must be as familiar with the laws 
of the child's physical existence as she is with the laws 
of its moral well being. 

Yet, while we realize that without an intimate ac- 
quaintance with the principles of good health immunity 
from disease is impossible, we have made no united 
effort to instruct our women so that they can perform 
this duty. Nay, if some woman, more intelligent and 
enterprising than the rest of her sex, makes a thorough 
study of hygiene and of kindred topics, she too often 
becomes a subject for ridicule among her acquaintances. 



46 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

They seem to think, as did women of yore, that the 
circle of woman's attainments is bounded by the hori- 
zon of man's pleasures, and that if she has acquired a 
knowledge of dancing, singing, music, courtly manners, 
and a little understanding of household management, 
she is equipped for the duties of life, of marriage, and of 
maternity. To dispel this delusion, and awaken in wo- 
men a sincere desire to familiarize themselves with the 
laws of health, which is the object of my present 
chapter, is, therefore, of the utmost importance. The 
evils which result from disobedience of these laws are 
not confined to women alone, but are transmitted to 
their offspring, and in this way are perpetuated. Truly, 
"The evil which men do, lives after them." How 
forcibly did Henry Ward Beecher realize this, when, in 
answer to the question "When should a child's educa- 
tion begin," he said, " With its grandfather." It is my 
province, however, only to consider those hygienic laws 
which are intimately connected with the welfare of the 
teeth. A discussion of the remaining principles is not 
the office of the dentist, but of the general physician. 

For the sake of clearness and logical arrangement, I 
shall divide this chapter into two topics : 

First, " Hints to Women in General." 
Second, "Hints to Pregnant Women." 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 



47 



Hints to Women in General. 




Lack of cleanliness and of proper dieting are undoubt- 
edly the main causes which contribute to the destruction 
of the teeth. As the subject of cleanliness has already 
been discussed at length, I shall 
now proceed to consider the 
subject of proper diet, by which 
I mean not only what to eat, 
but also how to eat. 

What to Eat. — This is a 
question that must be solved 
differently for different indi- 
viduals. The food which is 
proper for one man may not 
agree with another. The stu- 
dent, or the brain worker, could 
not long subsist on that re- 
quired by the laborer, or the 
out-door toiler. Time, age and 
occupation must all be consid- 
ered before it may be said to 
any man, " Eat this or that kind 
of food." Yet, in spite of this difficulty, there are 
certain foods of which it may be said that they are 
safe to all. 

The human body is composed of seventeen elements, 




Upper and Lower Permanent 
Teeth in Outline. 



48 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

the chief of which are hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, and 
the salts of lime. The various organs of the body are 
formed by varying combinations of a certain number of 
these elements, and these organs sustain and nourish 
themselves by extracting from the blood a sufficient 
quantity of the elements which enter into their forma- 
tion, so that if the food is deficient in any one element, 
some one organ of the body is destined to suffer. As 
no foods, except milk and eggs, contain all the elements 
which enter into the structure of the body, it is appar- 
ent that to properly nourish all our organs, recourse 
must be had to a diversified diet. In this way the 
abundance of a certain element in one food may supply 
its deficiency in another. 

Teeth strongly resemble bone in their composition. 
They are composed of animal and mineral elements. 
The mineral matter is the more abundant of the two, 
and consists principally of lime salts, such as phosphate 
of lime, carbonate of lime, fluoride of calcium, and 
phosphate of magnesia. These elements give to the 
teeth their strength and hardness. If they are absent 
to any marked extent, the teeth are weak, frail and soft. 

By careful experiment, it has been found that the 
following foods contain these elements in greatest abun- 
dance : 

Milk. — This is the representative food, as it contains 
every element which enters into the structure of the 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 49 

body; but as it is a ready absorbent of microbes, it 
should be boiled before it is given to children. The 
boiling kills the microbes. 

Buttermilk. — This is valuable as a food, except when 
it is churned from very sour milk, or has become cheesy 
by age. 

Cheese. — This should be eaten sparingly, as it is indi- 
gestible ; a little, however, may aid digestion. 

The Cereals. — Wheat, maize, rye, oats and rice, are 
very valuable foods, because they contain so many of 
the constituents needed for life and health. 

Fine flour, however, should be sparingly used, because 
in its preparation the lime salts and phosphates are 
extracted. Thus, it has been estimated that five hun- 
dred pounds of Graham flour contain seventy-five 
pounds of muscle, and eighty -five pounds of bone ma- 
terial, while an equal quantity of white flour contains 
only sixty-five pounds of muscle, and but fifty pounds of 
bone material. 

Eggs. — These are highly nourishing. They should be 
used "soft-boiled," and not hard-boiled, as the latter 
are less digestible. Eggs should always be eaten with a 
little bread and salt, as this renders them more whole- 
some. 

Meat. — Of all meats, beef and mutton are the best 
regular foods. If rightly prepared, meat is very nour- 
ishing and digestible. Among other nourishing meats 



50 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

might be mentioned pork, veal and poultry. Meat, 
however, should not be eaten excessively, and should 
never be used unless carefully prepared. 

Fish. — When fresh and well cooked, fish are very 
nourishing. 

Beans. — The nutritive value of beans is higher than 
that of any other vegetable. Among the most valuable 
varieties may be mentioned the kidney, the haricot and 
the lima. 

Peas. — Peas have qualities similar to beans, but not 
in the same degree. 

Potatoes.- — If properly cooked, these make a valuable 
food. When cold they are indigestible. They are best 
when boiled with the skin on, or when roasted. Pota- 
toes contain valuable potash salts, which are lost in 
boiling without the skins, but are retained in baking 
and stewing. 

Vegetables. — Cabbage, parsnips, carrots, onions, to- 
matoes and beets are good foods when eaten moderately, 
but if taken in large quantities are indigestible. 

These are but a few of the many valuable foods 
which a bountiful nature has placed at man's disposal. 
Only those are enumerated in the above list which are 
important from the standpoint of the teeth. They are 
equally valuable, however, in building up the rest of 
the body. For a more extended discussion of food, I 
refer the reader to some work on hygiene. In our 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 51 

libraries may be found many books treating of this topic 
most exhaustively and explicitly. Their perusal will 
repay the reader with compound interest. 

The consequences which result from a neglect to use 
proper food cannot be overstated. It is because of this 
neglect that so many of our boys and girls, while yet 
in the full bloom of youth, are compelled to wear arti- 
ficial dentures. One eminent writer has even said, 
" We are becoming a toothless people." Of course he 
did not imply that our ancestors did not suffer from 
decayed teeth. They certainly did, but through an ex- 
amination of their remains, we must conclude that they 
did not suffer from dental troubles to the extent that 
we do. 

Our inventions and discoveries have revolutionized 
science and art. They have even changed the character 
of our food. The tables of the rich are to-day loaded 
with delicate, dainty viands, from which have been ex- 
tracted the phosphates and lime salts, the elements that 
build up the bones and the teeth. It is because he eats 
such food that the child of riches often has weak, ill- 
formed teeth, and because the child of poverty subsists 
on coarse flour, he enjoys a wealth of teeth that money 
cannot buy. 

Having now learned " What to eat," we have yet to 
learn what few, indeed, understand, " How to eat," for 
the evils resulting from a neglect of the latter will 



52 CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

more than balance the good derived from an observance 
of the former. 

How to Eat. — However nourishing may be the food 
one eats, it can yield little benefit unless it is properly 
eaten. 

1. It is to be thoroughly masticated. 

2. It should not be taken in excess, nor the 
maxim forgotten, " We eat to live, and do not live to 
eat." 

3. It is not to be taken too hot or too cold. 

4. The stomach must be allowed freedom of move- 
ment. 

It is self-evident that if the stomach is overloaded 
by excessive eating, or if the food is bolted and not 
thoroughly masticated, the work of digestion will be 
poorly performed, the stomach become disordered, and 
the saliva acidified. The acid saliva, as already shown, 
destroys the teeth. 

It is equally evident that since the food digests most 
readily at a temperature of about 98° F., if that which 
is very cold or warm is taken into the stomach, its tem- 
perature is materially lowered or raised, and to that 
extent the work of digestion is checked. 

Nor need I add that if the free movement of the 
stomach is restrained by stays or tight corsets, it can- 
not perform its functions properly. No doubt a 
slender waist gives to a woman an elegant form, but a 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 53 

gracefulness purchased at the price of health is a charm 
far too costly. 

Hints to Pregnant Women. 

Women at this time must be particularly careful to 
observe hygienic laws, because upon their obedience 
to them depends not only their own health, but also 
that of the unborn child. The food, especially, should 
be highly nourishing, because only a part of it is em- 
ployed in building up her own body, the remainder 
going to lay a foundation for the organs of her child. 
If, for instance, her food is deficient in lime salts and 
phosphates, not only will her own teeth be underfed, 
but she will give but a poor structure to the teeth of 
her young. 

Every married woman should have her teeth care- 
fully attended to, for any trouble with which they 
may be affected will be intensified by her pregnancy. 
At no other period of a woman's life do her teeth 
decay more rapidly. At no other time is she so suscep- 
tible to disease, so frequently indisposed, so neglectful 
of herself. She is a constant sufferer from disorders of 
the stomach, and in particular from morning sickness, 
or inability to retain food. As a result, her saliva is 
generally acid, and hence her teeth are rapidly de- 
stroyed. 

As I can only treat of the laws of health in so far as 



54 CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

they directly affect the teeth, I must stop here, for a 
more extended discussion would take me from the field 
of the dentist into the domain of the physician. Let 
me close, therefore, by recapitulating the various points 
suggested in this chapter. 

1. Let the mouth be always clean. 

2. Masticate the food thoroughly. 

3. Eat moderately ; avoid excess. 

4. We eat to live ; we do not live to eat. 

5. Eat substantial, well-cooked food. 

6. Avoid pastr} 7 and superfine flour. 

7. Do not eat very cold or very warm food. 

8. Do not restrict the action of the stomach by 
corsets or stays. 

9. To neutralize the acidity of the mouth use lime 
water. 

10. To relieve morning sickness, use Lacto-Phosphate 
of Lime. 

This last named remedy, used in the form of the 
syrup, should be freely employed by expectant mothers, 
unless otherwise ordered by their physician. It should 
be taken in teaspoonf ul doses, three times daily. It is 
especially valuable because : 

1. It assists in retaining the food on the stomach. 

2. It relieves the morning sickness, or vomiting, to 
which women are so subject at this critical period of 
their lives. 



ADVICE TO MOTHERS. 



5:> 



3. It strengthens the mother's teeth, and contributes 
to the perfect development of those of her unborn 
child. 

It is particularly useful in those cases in which the 
food is deficient in lime salts. Lime water, taken in 
moderate doses, is another remedy very efficient in 
hardening the teeth. It may also be used as a mouth 
wash, after each meal. 

A solution of bicarbonate of soda makes another ex- 
cellent mouth wash, using a teaspoon ful in a glass of 
water after each meal. Both will neutralize the acidity 
of the mouth, which is so common at this period of the 
life of woman. 




A case of irregularity of the teeth. 



CHAPTEK VII. 



CHILDREN S TEETH. 



By a natural progression we are brought to the con- 
sideration of children's teeth. After the mother has 
secured to her child a solid foundation, her work has 
but begun. As soon as the teeth appear they must be 
carefully watched, for as they take some time to solidify, 
they easily decay ; as to the best means for preserving 
these organs, there is much misunderstanding and lack 
of knowledge, and hence many a child's teeth are un- 
wittingly permitted to decay. The following sugges- 
tions on the care of infant's teeth will, therefore, I 
think, be of some service to the reader. 

Children grow two sets of teeth. The milk teeth, 
twenty in number, and the permanent ones, thirty-two 
in number. 

The milk teeth generally appear as follows : 

Central incisor, 5th to 6th month. 

Lateral incisor, 7th to 8th month. 

First molars. 12th to 16th month. 

Canines, 14th to 20th month. 

Second molars 21st to 36th month. 



children's teeth. 57 

The eruption of the lower teeth usually takes place 
before those of the upper. 

The permanent teeth appear in the following order: 

First molars, . 5th to 6th year. 

Central incisors, lower jaw, . . . 6th to 7th year. 

Central incisors, upper jaw, . . . 7th to 8th year. 

Lateral incisors, 7th to 9 th year. 

First bicuspids, 9th to 10th year. 

Second bicuspids, 10th to 11th year. 

Canines, 11th to 13th year. 

Second molars, 12th to 15th year. 

Third molars, or wisdom teeth, . 17th to 23d year. 

As the milk teeth last but a short time, or until they 
are displaced by the permanent teeth, very little atten- 
tion is generally paid to their preservation. Tartar and 
filth are allowed to accumulate, and as soon as they 
become troublesome they are extracted. 

The idea that the milk or deciduous teeth should be 
taken out as soon as they ache, is not only erroneous 
but harmful. So long as they can be saved, they should 
not be removed, as serious injury is inflicted on the 
child. If these are extracted the incoming permanent 
ones are seriously interfered with; they grow out of 
their allotted space, or grow in an irregular manner, 
distort the mouth and impede the work of mastication. 
Nature indicates the time for their removal by absorb- 



58 



CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



ing their roots and loosening their crowns, preparatory 
to the appearance of the permanent teeth. Moreover, 
it is somewhat dangerous to extract any of the milk 
teeth, because the jaw is not }^et perfectly developed, 
and is, therefore, very frail and liable to fracture. It 




of a child at about six years of age. The deciduous teeth and the first per- 
manent molars are in place. The outer plate of the bone is removed 
to show the advancing germs of the permanent teeth. 



is because of this belief and the consequent neglect that 
the milk teeth decay so rapidly. As soon as they 
appear, they should be cleaned every day with soft 
linen, and when all the teeth are erupted, a soft brush 
should be used. Tartar, easily distinguishable by the 



children's teeth. 59 

dark or green stain which it imparts, should not be per- 
mitted to accumulate. 

From the tables already given, it appears that at the 
age of six the child has four, and at the age of twelve 
it has twenty-eight of the permanent teeth. 

The sixth-year molars deserve a special notice, because 
they are so frequently confounded with the first set of 
teeth. The reason of this is, that those back teeth of 
the upper and lower jaw on either side make their ap- 
pearance before any of the first teeth are shed. If 
neglected, as they too often are, they are early lost, and 
can never be replaced, except artificially. When you 
are able to count a row of eleven or twelve in each jaw, 
that is, as soon as there are more than twenty teeth 
in all, you may be sure that the last molars on either 
side belong to the second set. 

During the eruption of the milk teeth, children fre- 
quently suffer from stomatitis, or inflammation of the 
soft parts of the mouth, due to the irritation produced 
by the teeth forcing their way to the surface. The 
mucous membrane, or lining of the mouth, becomes very 
red, there is an increased flow of saliva, the parts 
are irritable and sore, the child is in a feverish state, it 
is disinclined to put anything in its mouth, or to take 
food either from the spoon or nipple, because of the 
pain which it experiences. The irritation and swelling 
may be so extensive that the entire nervous system 



60 CAEE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

becomes affected, and the child is thrown into convul- 
sions. Relief may frequently be obtained by lancing 
the gums, and thus mitigating the irritating pressure of 
the incoming teeth, and by spraying the mouth with a 
solution of fifteen grains of borax, or chlorate of potas- 
sium, dissolved in a tumbler full of water, or by paint- 
ing the cheeks and lips with linseed. 

Of course, during dentition children may suffer from 
many other diseases, none of which are within the prov- 
ince of the dentist. In such cases the physician should 
be consulted, and much unnecessary pain, if not serious 
consequences, may be avoided by a timely call. 

Very early in life children may acquire bad habits, 
which shall result in deformity of the teeth, and hence 
parents should make a strong effort to correct them. 

Thumb, ok Finger Sucking. — By this habit the lower 
teeth are forced inwards and the upper teeth outwards. 
These results are due to the peculiar way in which the 
fingers rest upon the teeth during the act of sucking. 
Unless this habit is checked before the permanent teeth 
appear, it will result in disfiguring them, and speech 
and mastication will be impaired. The habit may be 
broken by wrapping the finger with muslin saturated 
with some harmless preparation, disagreeable to the 
taste. 

Lip Sucking. — This is another habit which may result 
in depression of the lower teeth. The child, b} T drawing 



nNILDKKN S TEETH. 



61 



the lower lip into the mouth, exerts a pressure upon the 
teeth, and they are forced inward to such an extent that 
deformity results. The space for the back teeth is 




An irregular dentition due to thumb sucking. 

greatly contracted, and extraction of one or more is 
required to make room for all the teeth in the arch. 

If the child cannot be broken of this habit in any 
other way, a fixture similar to a splint ought to be made 
and put between its teeth and lips, so as to make it im- 
possible to draw the lips into the mouth. 

Mouth Breathing. — Mouth breathing also produces 
irregularity of the teeth. This habit, most commonly 
indulged during sleep, is frequently due to some nasal 
obstruction of the air passages. In these cases surgical 
operations are often necessary. Sometimes the habit 
is acquired when no organic trouble exists. The most 
effective way of breaking this habit is that employed 



62 CAEE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

by the Indian mother, who bandages the mouth of the 
child, and in this way forces it to breathe through the 
nostrils, or not to breathe at all. Rubber appliances, 
working on the same principle, are in use to-day, only 
they are free from the barbarous character of the Indian 
method ; that is, they work on the principle of inducing 
nose breathing, by making it so difficult to breathe 
through the mouth that the child readily accustoms 
itself to breathe through its nostrils. 

Cracking Nuts, Etc. — Teeth must not be used as 
nut-crackers. Like the bones, they are not solidified in 
early life. Even if they are, cracking nuts with them 
will soon result in their destruction, as they were not 
intended for such violent work. 

Candies. — Children should be advised to abstain from 
candies. I mean cheap candies ; that of the best qual- 
ity is harmless enough, but the cheap candies are fre- 
quently mixed with acids and arsenic, the latter being 
used as coloring material. We need hardly add that 
these foreign substances are most destructive in their 
action on the teeth. 

Eating. — Children should be prevented from drinking 
very cold water after partaking of a warm meal. With 
Americans the use of ice water is very common. Yery 
often after drinking hot coffee or tea, a large quantity 
of cold water is drunk. This mixture of the warm and 
cold is very injurious, not only to the stomach, but also 



children's teeth. 63 

to the teeth. The habit should be broken in childhood, 
because when once formed it is difficult to overcome. 
But unless the food contains a generous supply of tooth- 
building material, no amount of cleanliness or correc- 
tion of bad habits will suffice to preserve the teeth. 

An eminent physician, speaking on the subject of 
food, says, " our pale-faced boys and girls are brought 
to this condition by living on butter, sugar and super- 
fine flour. To prepare these articles, the very elements 
that make bone and tissue are extracted." The child 
must be fed on plain, substantial food ; it must not be 
too fat, or too rich, all pastries being avoided. A tea- 
spoonful of lacto-phosphate of lime, or lime water, ad- 
ministered three times a day, will add greatly to the 
strength of the child's teeth. 

To conclude, let me say that as soon as the milk 
teeth appear the utmost care should be taken of them. 
The child should be examined by a dentist at regular 
intervals, say of six months. It should not have any 
of the temporary teeth extracted, but have them filled 
wherever necessary, and so preserve them until the 
permanent teeth are erupted. 

By following these suggestions and bringing to their 
aid good common sense, mothers may secure to their 
children a set of strong, healthy teeth, which, with 
proper care, will last a life-time. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CROWN AND BRIDGE WORK. 



Although this department of dental practice offers 
to humanity one of the most useful and ornamental 
devices yet discovered, very little, as yet, is known of 
it among the people. By its employment, teeth that 
it would otherwise be necessary to extract are pre- 
served, and artificial plates are dispensed with. It is 
certainly more expensive than 
artificial dentures, but the 
comfort and convenience af- 
forded, to say nothing of 
durability, amply repay the 
outlay. 

Crown Work.^ — This is the 
process of attaching artificial 
crowns to badly decayed 
teeth, or to roots. There are 
a number of kinds of crowns 
used. Those intended for 
part of the mouth are of 




Crowns for front teeth. 



teeth in the 
porcelain, or 



anterior 



have porcelain facings, while those 



CROWN AND BRIDGE WORK. 



65 



employed for back teeth alone are commonly made 
of gold only. 

The latter class are caps of gold, which completely 
envelop and enclose the crown of the tooth, and they 
are used in those cases in which decay has so wrecked 
them that a filling will fail to preserve them in a satis- 
factory condition. Surrounded by its gold cap, the 
tooth cannot come into contact with foreign substances, 
so that it is almost impossible for decay to recur. 

For front teeth, crowns with porcelain facings are 
employed, to prevent the unsightly appearance of 
such an apparent mass of metal. The porcelain facing 
gives to the tooth a natural appearance. 

Formerly, the work of crowning, which demands 




Crowns for back teeth. 



great skill and discrimination, was confined mainly to 
the back teeth; but the modern dentist, having im- 
proved methods of manipulation, successfully operates 



66 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

on any tooth, if it have but roots which are firmly 
imbedded in the jaw. 

Bridge Work. — When there are two or more sound 
roots or teeth, with spaces from which teeth have been 
lost between them, it is possible to supply the missing 
teeth by constructing a bridge of crowns across the 
vacancy. 

The crowns are soldered to each other, the terminal 
ones being firmly attached to the sound teeth or roots, 
in such manner that each of the intermediate 
crowns occupies the space of a missing tooth. 
They may be constructed with a porcelain 
firu facing, so that the whole work shall present 
[ , ] to the observer a most natural appearance. 
There are a variety of methods for construct- 
ing these bridges, each excellent in itself, and 
each specially adapted to some particular class 
crown, of cases. 

Bridge work has been condemned by many dentists 
of high standing, because it has been so much abused 
through its improper use. Some practitioners, either 
because of a mistaken enthusiasm or from some less 
worthy motive, have inserted bridges upon insecure or 
diseased roots, with the natural consequence, of their 
early failure. Others have not hesitated to sacrifice 
good and serviceable teeth for the purpose of putting in 
bridges. All these possible abuses do not excuse the 



CliOWN AND I51MDGE Wo UK. 



67 



wholesale denunciations of that which is proper and 
correct practice. As well might one condemn the fill- 
ing of teeth, because poor work is sometimes done. 
One of the most attractive features of this kind of 




A piece of Bridge Work. 

work is, that when properly made and inserted, the 
patient soon loses all consciousness of its artificiality. 
The crowns and teeth being attached to natural roots 
and immovable, approach more nearly to the natural 
organs, and the patient suffers less discomfort than 
from any other artificial substitutes. 



OHAPTEE IX. 

FRACTURED JAWS. 

To the great majority of people, the word " dentist " 
conveys but one idea — that of a tooth puller. It is 
true that in the past, dentistry was practised to a large 
extent by persons engaged in some other pursuit, and 
without any professional education whatever. The 
blacksmith, barber, watchmaker, and others of the 
same class, were the dentists of every village and town. 
Even in some of our largest cities, dentists of this kind 
were, until quite lately, found practising under the very 
shadows of the Universities and Medical schools. The 
explanation of this seems to be that mere tooth drawing 
constituted the surgical dentistry of those days, and as 
the operation of extraction is one requiring muscular 
strength and manual dexterity, rather than anatomical 
knowledge and surgical skill, and was performed as 
successfully by the irregular as by the regular practi- 
tioner, it had not many attractions for medical men. 
Dentistry was, accordingly, assigned to the uneducated 
and the charlatan. 

To-day, however, the province of dentistry embraces 



FRACTURED .JAWS. t>tf 

the art of treating the diseases and lesions of the teeth, 
and supplying artificial substitutes for these organs 
when lost. Diseases of the teeth and mouth are not 
always local affections, but may, and very frequently 
do, arise from constitutional causes ; hence the dentist 
who is thoroughly qualified to heal, as well as to repair 
and ameliorate, must be both a surgeon and a physi- 
cian. He must be skilled, 
not only in the mechanical, 
but also in the therapeutical 
department of his profes- 
sion. As a result, many 
affections of the teeth and 
the various portions of the 
mouth, for the treatment of 
which people in former 

Interdental Splint. ^^ j^ recourse to ^g 

physician or the surgeon, to-day more properly are rel- 
egated to the dentist, who, making a specialty of these 
parts, is thoroughly familiar with them, and can prop- 
erly be termed a specialist in diseases of the mouth. 

This fact is so well appreciated by the general prac- 
titioners in medicine and surgery, that they have no 
hesitancy in referring their patients to the dentist in 
every case of oral disease, independent of any affection 
of the teeth, and particularly is this the case in frac- 
tures. 




70 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

Fractured Jaws. — In discussing this subject, I wish 
at the outset to mention the fact that they are most 
frequently clue to direct manual blows received in fights. 
They may also be the result of kicks, falls and other 
forms of violence. Fractures of the lower jaw are 
most frequent, those of the upper jaw being rarely en- 
countered. 

The lower jaw has its weakest place between the 
canine and bicuspid teeth, owing to the long roots of 
the former, and it is at this point that fractures are 
most often met, although they may occur in any other 
part of the bone. Out of a great number of fractured 
jaws that have been under my treatment, four-fifths 
were due to violent blows received during quarrels, the 
remaining one-fifth occurring through accidents. In 
most of these cases the jaw was fractured between the 
canine and bicuspid _teeth. 

In newly fractured jaws there is a slight movement 
of the broken parts, which can be felt by pressing them 
with the fingers. The simplest method of detecting a 
fracture is as follows : 

Grasp the jaw with both hands, applied on each side 
of the apparent seat of injury, so as to hold the bone 
between the thumb and index fingers ; then, by slight 
opposite movements directed both upward and down- 
ward, a positive conclusion may be reached through the 
mobility of the parts. In badly fractured jaws the 



FKACTUEED JAWS. 71 

teeth are irregular, owing to the alteration of the level 
of the fractured parts, and when the jaws are brought 
together they do not meet as formerly, while very fre- 
quently the jaws cannot be closed at all. On the slight- 
est pressure or movement severe pain is felt, and inflam- 
mation, and usually suppuration, succeed. 

The jaw should be kept at rest, and all irritation of 
the fractured parts through movements caused by con- 
versation, eating, etc., should be carefully avoided. No 





Interdental Splint. View of upper Interdental Splint. View of under 

surface. surface. 

time should be lost in visiting the dentist, for the more 
recent the fracture the more readily can it be reduced, 
and the more rapid will be the healing process. For 
the treatment of fractured jaws the interdental splint 
has been devised, by the aid of which they are quickly 
and easily healed. 

This splint is made in the shape of a horseshoe, so as 
to correspond precisely to the arches of both the upper 



72 



CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



and lower jaws. The two wide surfaces have depres- 
sions into which, when it is placed between the two 
arches, the crowns of the upper and lower teeth fit ac- 
curately. That is, the crowns of the superior teeth fit 
into depressions in the upper surface of the splint, 
while the crowns of the inferior teeth are in the same 
manner received by the 
lower surface of this appli- 
ance. Thus, when the splint 
is placed in the mouth, the 
teeth and jaws become 
locked and immovable. 

In the centre of the splint 
there is an opening for the 
reception of fluid food. 
Nature unites the fractured 
bone by the formation of 
new bone around and be- 
tween the broken parts, 
when they are brought 
into accurate coaptation and kept immovable for a 
certain time, and preserved in good hygienic con- 
dition. 

In compliance with these principles, all interdental 
splints are constructed to fit the mouth as though no 
fracture had occurred. When such a splint is applied to 
the mouth, the fractured parts must, of necessity, by a 




Splint retained by a skull cap. 



FRACTURED JAWS. 73 

slight pressure, resume their original position, and then 
nature does the rest. 

It usually takes from three to six weeks for a perfect 
union to be effected. I have dwelt at some length on 
fractures and splints, because I wish, first, to show how 
easily a fractured jaw can be healed through the aid of 
a splint, and secondly, to dissipate the distrust with 
which some people are apt to regard those dental sur- 
geons who undertake to perform such operations. To 
illustrate the second point more forcibly, I will relate 
the following case : 

A short time ago a lad, four or five years of age, 
was kicked by a horse, and his lower jaw was broken. 
I was called in as consulting dentist, and suggested the 
use of the splint. As the parents had never heard of 
this device, they immediately became distrustful, and by 
their misgivings and fretfulness greatly interfered with 
the work of fitting the splint. Even after it had been 
introduced into the child's mouth, it was with the ut- 
most difficulty that they were prevented from removing 
it. In the course of a few weeks the fracture was com- 
pletely healed, and I may add that the parents were 
thoroughly cured of their distrust. 



CHAPTEK X. 



CLEFT PALATES. 



Nature's freaks are so numerous and unlooked for 
that her infallibility becomes a matter of grave suspi- 
cion. The deaf, the mute, the lame and the afflicted, 
daily born into the world, are examples of her many 
whims and caprices. Were it not for the unwearied 
efforts of science, these unfor- 
tunate victims would find life 
well nigh intolerable. 

Thanks, however, to a broad 
philanthropy, the blind can be 
taught to read and to write, the 
deaf and dumb to communicate 
with those about them, while 
the deformed are enabled in a 
great measure to overcome their 
natural defects and to be placed upon the same level 
with their neighbors. 

Few, if any, are more entitled to our sympathy and 
our best efforts for relief than those unfortunate ones 
who are born into the world with a defective palate, for 




Jaw with double cleft. 



CLEFT PALATES. 75 

they are thereby deprived of one of the greatest bless- 
ings bestowed upon man, the faculty of distinct speech, 
as well as the power properly to perform the functions 
of mastication and deglutition. 

The palate is the roof of the mouth. It consists of 
two parts, the hard and the soft palate. The former is 
of bony, while the latter of muscular tissue. The hard 
palate serves not only as the roof of the mouth, but 
also as the floor of the nose. The soft palate is sus- 
pended like a curtain from the posterior edge of the 
hard palate. 

Its function is very important, and consists, during 
deglutition, in closing the passage from the pharynx 
into the "posterior nares, so that food may not get into 
the nose. 

Each palate is, moreover, divided into two parts, 
which are united in the median line of the mouth. The 
union of these parts generally occurs during the third 
week of embryonic life. Sometimes, however, this 
does not take place, and the child is born with a perfor- 
ated palate. Such an one is technically called a con- 
genital cleft palate. 

There are also accidental cleft palates, due to disease 
resulting from an irregular and debauched life. Cleft 
palates of the latter class are much more numerous than 
those of the former. Congenital cleft palates vary in 
size and form. Sometimes both hard and soft palates 



76 



CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



are perforated. In such cases the interior of the nose 
and the bones of the skull are exposed, and the whole 
presents a very ghastly appearance. 

Accidental, or acquired, cleft palates also vary, and 
either the soft or hard tissues, or both, may be affected. 




Cleft through the hard and soft palates. 

In congenital cases the sufferer does not experience 
any great inconvenience during the process of degluti- 
tion, as the instinct of self-preservation has from child- 
hood taught the sufferer to close the cleft with the 
tongue. Then, by placing the food under that organ, 



CLEFT PALATES. 



77 



it is shifted from side to side until forced into the 
pharynx. This process is a very curious and compli- 
cated one. None of us, try as hard as he may, could 
imitate it. For this reason, if one becomes afflicted 
with such a palate in adult life, he can in no way accus- 
tom himself to close the opening with his tongue, and, 
therefore, whenever he at- 
tempts to eat, a portion of 
the food is invariably forced 
into the nose. The patient 
thus not only suffers great 
inconvenience, but it be- 
comes the source of con- 
stant humiliation. 

But by far the greatest 
embarrassment to which 
these sufferers are subject- 
ed, whether the cleft be con- 
genital or acquired, arises 
from their inability to 
speak clearly and distinctly. 
For a distinct utterance of 
vocal sounds every part of 
the mouth is essential. In many cases, indeed, the cleft 
makes speech utterly impossible. 

Formerly, to remedy these evils recourse was had to 
surgical operation. Staphylorraphy, which means 




Upper denture with artificial soft palate. 



78 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

suturing or sewing together, was the most common 
remedial measure. But this operation in many cases 
proved unsuccessful. 

It consisted in paring the edges of the cleft, and then 
sewing them together. This necessitated the stretching 
of the soft parts to such a degree that they would 
eventually rupture. Dentistry has succeeded in con- 
structing an appliance which, by taking the place of 
the lost parts, enables the palate properly to perform its 
functions. These contrivances are known under the 
name of obturators. 

Where the hard palate alone is perforated, the obtur- 
ator is very simple. It consists of an ordinary artificial 
plate, extending over the cleft. 

But where the soft palate is involved, it is very com- 
plicated and difficult of construction. In such cases 
the obturator consists of an artificial plate, to the 

posterior edge of 
which is attached a 
pendulous body, cor- 
responding in size 
and shape to the miss- 
ing soft palate, and 
fitting exactly in its 

Plate ready for attachment of the obturator part. „]„„„ 

In some cases this pendulous body is given a hinge 
movement, the muscles of the mouth enabling it to 




CLEFT PALATES. 



79 



perform all the functions of the soft palate. The obtur- 
ators are held in position by means of clasps or rings, 
which embrace the natural teeth, as it is impossible, 
owing to the cleft, to utilize the forces of adhesion and 
atmospheric pressure, as would be done in the case of 
artificial dentures. 

The use of the obturator has never failed to restore 
clearness and distinctness to 
speech, or the power properly 
to perform the process of 
deglutition. Of course, in 
congenital clefts, the sufferer 
has never known how to 
utter the proper sounds, and 
for this reason it requires a 
great deal of patience and 
perseverance on his part be- 
fore he is able to do so. He 
must learn just like a young 
child. But in the case of 
acquired clefts, the patient 
still retains the knowledge 
of the former method of 

utterance ; he only needs some contrivance to close 
up the cleft, to restore to him the power of speech. So 
it can readily be seen that when the palates, or either 
of them, is perforated, the plate and the pendulous body 




80 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

thereto attached, if properly made, will completely 
close the entrance to the nose and prevent the food 
from being forced into it. 

The obturator is an excellent example of the many 
benefits modern dentistry has conferred upon mankind. 
By its means men are restored to society, who, either 
through the misfortune of birth or from wantonness, 
have become to others an object of pity — to themselves, 
one of disgust. 




CHAPTER XI. 

HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 

People are frequently seized with toothache at times 
when it is almost impossible to visit the dentist. On 
such occasions they listen eagerly to the advice of kind 
and sympathetic friends, each of whom has some pet 
medicine to recommend that he is convinced will prove 
efficacious ; these remedies too often are only active in 
burning the patient's mouth, so when one of these self- 
doctored sufferers obtains professional advice, the tissues 
are so inflamed that before the teeth can be treated the 
work of home doctoring must be undone. 

Recognizing the difficulties under which one labors 
who is thus suddenly attacked, I have determined in 
this chapter to lay down a few suggestions, which, if 
properly followed, will enable patients to treat them- 
selves in an intelligent and effective manner until they 
can reach the dentist. Of course, in a book such 
as this, it is impossible to speak of every disease that 
may affect the teeth. To attempt it would result in 
producing a work not only very voluminous, but also 
very confusing, as the distinctions between many of 



82 CAKE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

the disorders are very subtle, and comprehensible only 
to the dentist. There are others, however, whose 
cause even a layman can readily ascertain, and to 
which some simple remedy may be temporarily ap- 
plied with good effect. I shall treat in this chapter of 
the following maladies : 

I. Aching teeth, with a cavity caused by deca}^ 
Of these there are two classes : 

A. When the pulp within the cavity is 
living. 

B. When the pulp within the cavity is 
dead. 

II. Filled teeth that ache. Of these there are two 
classes : 

A. When the pulp is living. 

B. When the pulp is dead. 

III. Aching gums. These are usually due to one of 

the following causes : 

A. Tartar. 

B. A cold. 

C. Recent cleaning of teeth. 

D. Extraction of teeth. 

IV. Hemorrhage. 
V. Neuralgia. 

YI. Foul breath. 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 83 

VII. Dislocated jaw. 
VIII. Faintness after extraction. 
IX. Food to be used in place of solid food. 

When suffering from toothache, find out if any of 
the teeth have a cavity"; you can do this by probing 
the teeth with an ordinary tooth-pick, or some similar 
instrument. If you discover a cavity, determine 
whether the pulp within the cavity is living or dead. 

I. Aching Teeth with a Cavity of Decay. 

A. WHEN THE PULP IS LIVING. 

Diagnosis. — To determine whether the pulp is living 
or dead, take some very warm or very cold water in 
the mouth, and bring it in contact with the pulp. If 
the pain is thereby increased, the pulp is living. 
Another very simple method for determining whether 
the pulp is living or not, is to insert a tooth-pick into 
the cavity and press upon the pulp. If the pain 
thereby is intensified, the pulp is living. In fact, 
living pulps are so sensitive that the introduction of 
any foreign material into the cavity will greatly 
increase the suffering. 

Treatment. — Wash out the cavity, either by rinsing 
the mouth with lukewarm water, or by employing a 
syringe, if one is at hand. After the cavity is 



84 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

thoroughly cleaned, insert into it a pellet, or little ball 
of cotton, saturated with spirits of camphor, oil of 
cloves or laudanum. Over the pellet insert a piece of 
dry cotton, so as completely to fill the cavity, and 
thus protect the pulp from sudden changes of tempera- 
ture, or the intrusion of foreign substances. 

B. ACHING TEETH, WHEN THE PULP IS DEAD. 

Diagnosis. — Of these teeth there are two kinds ; in 
the first, the patient suffers from mere inflammation of 
the lining membrane between the root and the socket ; 
in the second, the inflammation has developed an 
abscess or gumboil. Prompt treatment in the first 
stage of the disease may prevent the second. The 
symptoms of the two stages are alike, except that in 
the second there is a swelling of the gums around the 
tooth. The teeth are elongated above the level of the 
surrounding ones, and are very sore, so that on closing 
the mouth they are struck first and a painful shock is 
experienced. They are also discolored, or somewhat 
darker than the surrounding teeth ; a bad odor also 
sometimes issues from them. 

Treatment. — For the first stage, or that in which 
there is mere inflammation of the lining membrane : 

1st. Apply a dental plaster to the gums. It may 
be obtained at almost any drug store. Or, 

2d. Rub iodine and aconite in equal parts around 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 85 

the gums with cotton, or a camel's hair brush ; before 
the mixture is applied, dry the gums thoroughly. The 
iodine and aconite induce a healthy flow of the blood, 
and facilitate the removal of the waste material. Be 
careful not to swallow the remedies, as they are poison- 
ous. Or, 

3d. Apply a leech to the gums, through a tube. Or, 

4th. Employ a cathartic ; it will reduce the quantity 
of water in the blood, and by limiting the blood 
pressure afford relief. 

Treatment. — For the second stage, or that in which 
the inflammation has developed an abscess : 

1st. Apply warm poultices of capsicum, or flaxseed, 
or raisins. 

Capsicum Poultice. — Place in a small cotton bag a 
mixture consisting of three parts of flour and one 
of red-pepper or capsicum. Warm this and apply it 
over the head of the abscess within the mouth. It 
should be changed every three hours. 

Flaxseed Poultices. — These may be made by wrap- 
ping flaxseed in strips of linen, two by three inches ; 
after heating them, apply them around the abscessed 
gum ; as soon as the poultice becomes cool, remove it 
and substitute a warm one. The abscess is thus brought 
to a head and prepared for the lance of the dentist. 
Patients should never attempt to do their own lancing, 
lest they induce blood poisoning. 



86 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

Raisin Poultice. — This may be made by cutting a 
number of large raisins into halves, taking out the 
seeds and heating them. One of these should be 
applied to the gums, directly above the abscess. As soon 
as it becomes cool, change it for a warm one. Con- 
tinue this treatment for several hours. 

As the breath is feverish and foul during the develop- 
ment of an abscess, the patient should use either of the 
following mouth-washes several times a day : 

1st. Rinse the mouth with a solution made from a 
teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in a glass of warm 
water. 

2d. Or, Listerine, either pure or diluted with 
from three to five parts of water. 

3d. Or, the following : Carbolic acid, two drams ; 
glycerine, four drams ; rose water, ten ounces. 

Sometimes the abscess is so large that the cheek is 
swollen. In such cases apply cold applications to the 
face, in addition to the warm applications to the gums. 
Never apply heat externally, lest the abscess burst 
there and leave behind it an ugly scar. 

II. Teeth that Ache After Being Filled. 

Diagnosis. — Sometimes a tooth is prematurely filled 
by the dentist ; that is to say, he fills the tooth before 
he has thoroughly quieted the nerve, in a case in which 
the pulp is living ; or in one in which the pulp is dead, 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 87 

he fills the tooth before he has thoroughly disinfected 
the pulp chamber and removed the dead pulp. It may 
also happen that after the cavity has been filled, in 
spite of all precautions, the pulp dies beneath the 
filling ; hence arise two classes of these diseased teeth 
— those with living pulps, and those with dead pulps. 

When the pulp is alive beneath the filling, the patient 
may suffer from jumping, or intermittent toothache. 

Treatment. — Any one of the following measures may 
be employed : 

1st. Take a hot foot bath ; this will equalize the 
circulation, and by relieving the blood pressure will 
relieve the pain. 

2d. Take a saline cathartic, like magnesia or epsom 
salts ; this will diminish the quantity of water in the 
blood, and so will relieve the blood pressure on the 
pulp. 

B. WHEN THE PULP IS DEAD BENEATH THE FILLING. 

Diagnosis. — The same as in the case of unfilled teeth 
with dead pulps. 

Treatment. — Also the same. (See disease I, sub- 
division B.) 

III. Aching Gums. 

This may be clue to an accumulation of tartar under- 
neath them, to colds, to laceration due to extraction, or 



08 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

to the irritation produced by a recent cleaning of the 
teeth. 

A. ACCUMULATION OF TARTAR. 

Diagnosis. — The gums have receded from the necks 
of the teeth, the teeth are loose, the breath is foul, and 
pus oozes from the gums. 

Treatment.— Rinse the mouth with tepid water, in 
which one or two teaspoonfuls of bicarbonate of soda 
have been dissolved. Use the solution at intervals of 
an hour. 

B. COLDS. 

Diagnosis. — The pain results from the inflammation 
caused by exposure to currents of air below the normal 
temperature of the body. 

Treatment. — Paint or rub the gums with a mixture 
of equal parts of aconite and iodine, or rinse the mouth 
with a solution of one dram of borax, or chlorate of 
potash, in a glass of water. 

C PAINFUL SENSATION FROM RECENT CLEANING. 

Diagnosis. — After the teeth have been cleaned by 
the dentist, they ache for a day or two, and are some- 
what sensitive. 

Treatment. — Rinse the mouth with either of the 
following mouth- washes : 

1st. Dissolve a teaspoonful of common salt in a 
glass of warm water ; to be used every half hour. 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 89 

2d. Rinse the mouth with Listerine, either in full 
strength or diluted with water. 

D. LACERATED GUMS AFTER EXTRACTION. 

Diagnosis. — After the teeth have been extracted, if 
the gums are lacerated and torn the patient will suffer 
considerable pain. The breath may also be foul, 
because of consequent sloughing. 

Treatment. — Use tincture of calendula, dilute it 
with an equal quantity of water, as a mouth-wash 
every three hours. It hardens the gums, soothes the 
pain, and sweetens the breath. 

IV. Hemorrhage. 

Diagnosis. — It sometimes happens that the extrac- 
tion of a tooth is followed by excessive hemorrhage or 
bleeding, due to a lack of coagulation or thickening 
property in the blood, or to a hereditary tendency to 
hemorrhage. 

There are two stages of hemorrhage — the primary 
and the secondary. The primary occurs at the extrac- 
tion of a tooth, and is normal ; the second hemorrhage 
may occur several hours, or even a day or two after 
the teeth have been extracted. 

Treatment. — Place the patient in a reclining posi- 
tion, with his head higher than the rest of his body, and 



90 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

apply bags of hot water to his feet. His position will 
prevent a determination to the head, and the water 
bags will draw the blood to the lower extremities. 

Before applying any remedy to the cavity, wash it 
very carefully with warm water, or the remedy will not 
prove as effective. 

Make a firm plug of styptic cotton and force it into 
the cavity ; cut a notch in a cork of suitable size, so 
that it may sit astride the gum ; then close the mouth 
firmly upon it, and bandage. By this means the cotton 
will be forced far into the cavity, and thus check the 
flow of blood. 

Hold in the mouth, until bleeding has stopped, 
a portion of a solution of two drams of borax in a 
glass of warm water. 

The bleeding cavity ma}^ also be plugged with leather 
scrapings, alum, cob-webs, or pieces of sponge satur- 
ated in nut-galls. Any one of these will usually suffice 
to check the hemorrhage. 

While these remedies are being employed, the 
physician or dentist should be sent for without delay. 

V. Neuralgia. 

Diagnosis. — Neuralgia is usually due to a bad con- 
dition of the teeth, but it may arise from some general 
disease, for the teeth may be perfectly sound and yet 
the patient suffer from intense neuralgia. 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 91 

Here let me say that I shall dismiss the neuralgias 
due to constitutional conditions from consideration, 
as their treatment lies within the province of the 
physician. 

The nerves of the face are very numerous and 
closely connected. The}^ form a complex net work, 
which is instantly aroused if any of the filaments are 
irritated. 

In the sensitiveness and rapidity of their transmis- 
sions, nerves are like electric wires ; an aching tooth 
may thus cause intense neuralgia, by inducing sympa- 
thetic pain among the nerves of the face and the head. 
Such pain, of course, can only be assuaged by allaying 
the pain in the tooth. Hence, to check neuralgia due 
to any of the teeth, the patient need only ascertain 
what particular ailment — as cold, tartar, recent extrac- 
tion, a dead or a living pulp — causes the pain, and 
apply the proper remedy. 

VI. Foul Breath. 

This is one of the most offensive and annoying 
features accompanying decayed or filthy teeth. It 
makes its victim a nuisance in society, as he becomes 
absolutely repulsive, and yet it is rarely referred to, 
from mistaken notions of delicacy. As a rule, the 
patient is quite unaware of his condition. Sometimes 
it arises from a disordered stomach, catarrhal troubles, 



92 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

or some general disease. If this be the case, the care 
lies with the physician, but if it arises from bad or 
filthy teeth, he should see the dentist, and in the mean- 
time take internally a half teaspoonful of Listerine 
after each meal, at the same time rinsing the mouth two 
or three times a day with tepid water, in which two 
or three grains of permanganate of potash have been 
dissolved. 

VII. Artificial Teeth. 

Diagnosis. — Before becoming accustomed to artificial 
teeth, the wearer generally suffers from soreness of the 
palate. It may be clue to the fact that the plate is not 
accurately fitted, or that the gums have not suf- 
ficiently healed, but more often it may be attributed to 
the novelty of having an artificial contrivance in the 
mouth. 

Treatment. — Remove the teeth for a few days, to 
allow the mouth to resume its normal condition. If 
there is considerable soreness, use the following wash : 

Take a lump of alum, the size of a black- walnut, and 
place it in a half glass of water. Keep it there for five 
minutes ; then rinse the mouth with the solution. 

With a camels-hair brush paint the sore places of the 
mouth, or the corresponding positions on the plate, 
with the following : 

Into a two-ounce bottle, with a wide mouth, put an 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 93 

ounce of glycerine, place it in a hot bath, and stir in 
slowly two ounces of tannic acid. 

This will also be found an excellent remedy for the lips 
when chapped or made sore by dental operations. 

If these do not afford relief, see the dentist. Here 
let me say that much unnecessary suffering is the 
result of persistently removing the plate and allowing 
it to remain out of the mouth for a greater or less 
period of time, while the patient is becoming habituated 
to it. In spite of some pain and inconvenience he 
should persevere, and only when the intensity of his 
suffering becomes unbearable should the plate be re- 
moved, and the treatment above outlined be employed. 

VIII. Dislocated Jaws. 

Diagnosis. — Sometimes during laughing, vomiting, 
etc., the lower jaw is dislocated ; that is to say, the 
joints or condyles are forced out of the sockets. When 
this is the case it will be found impossible to close the 
mouth, or to move the lower jaw. 

Treatment. — I. Let the patient sit in a low chair that 
is tilted backward so that the head rests firmly against 
the wall. Next let some friend wrap his thumbs in a 
napkin, or some other material that will protect them 
against being bitten, and grasping the sufferer's chin, 
so that the thumbs rest upon the upper surface of 
the lower back teeth, while the remaining fingers 



94 



CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 



encircle the outside of the chin, let him exert a quick 

downward and back- 
ward pressure, and the 
jaw will be forced into 
place. 

II. Take a stick of 
convenient size and 
about a foot long, and 
apply one end of it to 
the upper surface of 
the lower back teeth on 
one side ; raise the free 
end of it upward, thus 
using it as a lever, and 
exerting great down- 
ward and backward 
pressure, when the jaw 
will be sprung into 
place on that side. 

Do precisely the same thing on the other side, and this 

will also assume its proper position. 

IX. Gas Exteaction. 

Diagnosis. — Sometimes after gas has been adminis- 
tered, a strong feeling of drowsiness seizes the patient. 

Treatment. — Let him get into the fresh air, and in- 
hale large draughts of it, also taking a little brandy to 




A dislocated jaw. 



HINTS ON HOME REMEDIES. 95 

stimulate the action of the heart. If the desire for 
sleep be not gratified, the drowsiness will soon pass 
away. 

X. When the gums are lacerated after extraction, 
it is sometimes impossible to eat solid food. Make a 
mixture consisting of a glass of boiled milk, two soft 
boiled eggs, and some sugar ; drink this and it will 
prove as nourishing as a good sized steak. 

In conclusion, let me say that these remedies are 
but make-shifts ; they may afford temporary relief from 
pain, but they do not remove the cause of it. This 
remains, and with every recurrence of the pain 
the efficacy of the remedies becomes less and less, until 
finally it is reduced to nothing. Hence there can be 
but one source of permanent relief, and that is to strike 
at the root of the trouble ; thus, if you suffer from the 
accumulation of tartar, let the dentist remove it; if 
you suffer from aching filled teeth, have him either 
extract them, or take out the fillings and prepare them 
again for fresh filling. 

Let the patient remember, too, that it is not sufficient 
to have only the aching teeth attended to ; wherever it 
is necessary, let them be clean, filled or capped, for 
thus only can every source of disease be removed and 
the mouth be restored to a healthy condition. 



CHAPTER XII. 

QUACKERY. 

Every family has its black sheep, all professions 
their quacks, and dentistry is no exception to the gen- 
eral rule. Here, much more easily than in any other 
profession, deceit and ignorance may be palmed off 
upon the layman for a considerable length of time, 
with little fear of detection or exposure. You are all 
familiar with his quackship, who may be recognized by 
his gaudy signs and alluring advertisements. Here are 
some of them : 

" Teeth cleaned for 50 cents ! " 

" Teeth filled for 50 cents ! " 

"Teeth extracted with pain for 25 cents; without 
pain for 50 cents ! " 

" Artificial teeth made for $5.00 while you wait ! " 

Enticing signs, these, are they not? 

" Teeth cleaned for 50 cents ! " 

How can a reputable dentist clean a set of teeth for 
this sum? How can any professional man live as befits 
his station, and meet the current expenses of his office, 
and work for 50 cents an hour? ]STo dentist, however 



QUACKERY. 97 

skilled and ingenious he may be, can on an average 
thoroughly clean a set of teeth in less than an hour, 
and how often, when the mouth is very filthy, must he 
work even two and three hours. It requires this 
length of time to clean a set of teeth, because, as I have 
shown in a preceding chapter, cleaning the teeth does 
not consist in merely giving to exposed surfaces a 
bright polish, but in thoroughly removing the tartar 
from beneath the gums, where it has accumulated in 
thick, incrusting cakes. 

How then, you will ask, can the quack clean the 
teeth for 50 cents? How? Through the use of de- 
structive agents. By the application of a powerful acid 
he can do the work of hours in a few moments. But 
for the reasons that I have already explained, in those 
few minutes the action of the acid has wrought 
greater destruction than many years of wear and tear 
could effect. This is how the quack works, and that is 
why he can work cheaply. 

" Teeth filled for fifty cents ! " 

How can any reputable dentist afford to fill a tooth 
for that sum ? How ? Listen to the experience of Mr. 
A., which is that of hundreds of others : 

" I had my teeth filled by the dentist, and the pain 
was intensified a thousand fold. I suffered from jump- 
ing toothache, and from abscesses, until I was almost 
driven wild. It was not until the filling fell out of the 



98 CAEE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

tooth (thanks to bad workmanship) that I obtained 
any relief from the severity of my sufferings." Upon 
carefully questioning the indignant complainant, it 
leaked out that he had been enticed into the parlors of 
the 50-cent dentist. 

Good filling requires that the dentist should carefully 
examine the tooth before he undertakes to fill it, so 
that he may discover whether it is alive or dead. If it 
is living, before he can fill it the pulp must be soothed ; 
and if it is dead, the pulp-chamber and canals must be 
thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. 

This preliminary work is laborious and difficult, and 
no dentist can undertake it for the mere pittance my 
complaining friend so generously paid. If he suffered 
from jumping toothache, it was because the dentist 
worked the filling into the tooth before the inflamed 
pulp was quieted, and so aggravated its irritated con- 
dition. If he suffered from abscesses and swellings, it 
was because his tooth was filled before the pulp- 
chamber and canals were properly disinfected. If the 
filling'fell out shortly after it was put in, it was because 
the dentist had not spent a sufficient and necessary 
length of time in shaping the cavity for its retention. 

" Teeth extracted with pain for 25 cents ; without 
pain for 50 cents ! " 

The quack excels in one department of dentistry — 
extraction. He takes out everything that comes in his 



QUACKERY. 99 

way. Extraction is a joy to his heart. He glories 
and revels in it. Never by any chance does he advise 
his patient to have a tooth filled, capped, or crowned, 
or to employ any one of the numerous excellent con- 
trivances which modern dentistry has invented. He 
always urges that it be pulled. The task of extraction 
is brief, and the remuneration comparatively high, 
when one considers that he charges the same price for 
the more difficult work of filling or cleaning. 

The harm thus worked by the quack is incalculable. 
Many a tooth thus ruthlessly removed might have been 
saved by the reputable dentist. The majority of 
decaying teeth are not so far gone but that the skill- 
ful practitioner can, by some one of the many ingenious 
means in vogue, manage to preserve them. 

"Artificial teeth made for $5.00 while you wait! " 

How absurd. No one, be he ever so clever, can make 
a set of teeth in less than a day or two, nor can 
any dentist, without sacrificing the welfare of his 
patient, afford to make teeth at such ridiculously low 
figures. 

Two elements enter into determining the value of a 
set of artificial teeth — workmanship and material. 

Workmanship. — This includes : 1st, natural appear- 
ance ; 2d, accurate fit ; 3d, such adaptation as will 
enable the possessor to perform mastication and articu- 
lation. 



100 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

Natural Appearance. — The teeth must be so con- 
structed as to preserve all the characteristics of the 
natural organs, and conform to the physiognomy of the 
patient. Shall they be large and powerful, small and 
dainty, or shall they be of medium size ? "What hue and 
shade shall be selected ? These are questions that the 
dentist can only answer after careful study of each 
individual case, for the patient can readily perceive that 
a set of teeth may be of very fine material, and yet 
may mar his appearance, because they are not in 
harmony with his general facial expression. 

Accuracy of Fit. — Perfect adaptability of the denture 
to the tissues is necessary, in order that it may set 
firmly in the mouth. This adaptability can only be 
obtained at a great expenditure of time, which the 
quack cannot afford, since he must compensate his 
cheapness of price by rapidity of work. 

Dental plates are manufactured on models made 
from impressions of the mouth. These impressions 
may be taken in wax, or some similar compound, or in 
plaster of paris. The former are taken easily, but they are 
inaccurate. The latter are obtained with difficulty, 
but they are exact. It is needless to say that our 
friends of the flourishing advertisements always dabble 
with wax and similar materials. 

Mastication and Articulation.— -I need hardly tell 
the reader that unless the teeth are well constructed. 



QUACKERY. 



101 



mastication and articulation can only be performed 
with great difficulty and inconvenience. 

Material. — Many people labor under the impression 
that artificial teeth are all of the same grade of 
material. This view is erroneous. Just as our clothing 
may be of inferior or superior quality, so it is with 
the porcelain from which artificial teeth are manu- 
factured. 

There are two classes of porcelain teeth. One pos- 
sesses such a remarkably vital appearance, that when 
put alongside of the natural teeth the most critical eye 
will often fail to distinguish between them. This close 
imitation results from study, and refined, artistic taste. 

The other class has a dull, opaque and lifeless appear- 
ance. It lacks all those essential characteristic 
features which make the former kind of porcelain in- 
valuable in dental art. 

The reason, therefore, why the quack works at such 
low figures is, that he employs poor workmanship and 
poor material. The better class of porcelain is worth 
fully three times as much as the inferior kind, and as 
to the relative values of good and bad workmanship, 
there can be no comparison whatever. The quack 
works minutes, while the painstaking dentist works 
hours. 

Poor teeth are injurious physically, aesthetically and 
financially. 



102 CARE OF THE TEETH AND MOUTH. 

Physically, because they are a source of discomfort 
to the patient. JEsthetically, because they mar his 
appearance, and financially, because they are not 
durable. 

Teeth are necessities, not luxuries. Bad is the policy, 
and worse the intelligence that will, for the sake of 
apparently saving a few dollars, buy ugly trash instead 
of valuable and durable material. The few dollars' dif- 
ference in the price between good and bad teeth are, I 
said, only seemingly saved. This is true, because the 
poorer class of teeth are worthless in every respect, 
whether as masticators, articulators, or beautifiers, and 
they must soon be discarded for something better. 

As usual, the greatest sufferers at the hands of the 
quack are the poorer people, who are readily attracted 
by the cheap prices and the golden promises of speedy 
benefits. For them we may have sympathy. There 
is, however, a class of people who have the means 
wherewith to pay for good dental work, and whom 
experience should have taught that whatever is abnor- 
mally cheap is worthless. For them there is no excuse. 
If they have been deceived, they have only obtained 
their just deserts. Poverty may be offered as an 
extenuation, but for greed there is no excuse. 

In the long run it will pay rich and poor alike to 
select a dentist, not from the standpoint of cheapness, 
but of ability. It is true that he may charge what 



QUACKERY. 



103 



appears to be large prices, but the patient will have the 
satisfaction of knowing that he has had faithful work, 
and that he has been given the benefit of the best 
fruits of great industry and knowledge. 

As a matter of fact, however, not even the poor man 
has any reason for resorting to the quack, for every 
good dentist is imbued with such a love for his profes- 
sion that he considers not alone the financial side, but 
is always ready to make due allowance for those who 
cannot afford to pay him his regular fees. Nothing 
then, save a false sentiment of pride which may make 
him ashamed to ask for the reduction, need drive the 
poor patient from the doors of the skilled practitioner 
to the quack. 

I have sought, in this chapter, to point out the delu- 
sion of cheap prices, and the danger and menace that 
the quack is to society. If I have succeeded, I shall 
have rendered an important service to every one who is 
obliged to seek the services of the dentist. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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